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Tohru Honda
- Past Design = }} |-| Anime = - 2001 Anime = }} |kanji = 本田 透 |romaji = Honda Tōru |aka = |gender = Female |age = 16 (Beginning of the series) 18 (End of the series) |height = 156.7 cm / 5'2" |weight = 46 kg / 101.4 lbs |hair color = Brown |eye color = Brown (Manga, 2019 Anime) Blue (2001 Anime) |blood type = O"Fruits Basket Uncovered - The Secrets of The Sohmas" |year = Dog |astrological sign = Taurus |occupation = Student |affiliation = Sohma Family Kaibara Municipal High School |parents = Katsuya Honda (Father) Kyoko Honda (Mother) |spouse = Kyo Sohma (Husband) |children = Hajime Sohma (Son) Unnamed Son Unnamed Daughter |extended family = Unnamed Parental Grandfather Unnamed Grandmother Unnamed Aunt Unnamed Cousin Unnamed Cousin Unnamed Maternal Grandparents Unnamed Granddaughter Unnamed Daughter-in-law Kazuma Sohma (Father-in-law) Unnamed Father-in-law Unnamed Mother-in-law |manga = Chapter 1 |anime = Episode 1 (2001) Episode 1 (2019) |japanese = Yui Horie (2001) Manaka Iwami (2019) |english = Laura Bailey }} is the main protagonist of the Fruits Basket series. She is the only daughter to the late Kyoko and Katsuya Honda. Tohru is a first-year student at Kaibara Municipal High School. She loves to cook, describes herself as an excellent housekeeper and has an after-school job as an office janitor to pay her tuition fees to avoid being a burden to her relatives. She is depicted as a polite, optimistic, extremely kind, and selfless person with a nurturing personality. Following her mother's death which left her orphaned, Tohru begins living with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo Sohma due to accidentally setting up a tent on their property. She later learns that thirteen members of the Sohma family are cursed, as they turn into animals of the Chinese Zodiac if they are embraced by anyone of the opposite sex or when their bodies come under a great deal of stress. As the series progresses, Tohru meets and befriends the rest of the zodiac and the family's mysterious head, Akito Sohma, and resolves to break the curse that burdens them. Only later does she admit that she wants to free Kyo most of all. In Fruits Basket Another, she is married to Kyo and the mother of three children, with her oldest son Hajime Sohma acting as one of the main characters. Appearance Tohru is a slim young girl of average height with long straight brown hair, that sometimes looks black, and has an eyebrow-length fringe that frames her large eyes (blue in the anime, brown in the manga). She is considered quite cute. She usually has blue colored bows in her hair, sometimes they're yellow and purple. She either wears a large one in the back or two smaller ones that pull her hair back to the sides. On weekends she often has her hair in pigtails. Her school uniform is a classic naval-styled Japanese school uniform. The uniform has a blue mini-skirt with pleats and ruffles at the hem, and a white and blue top with a jacket. She wears blue socks that go up to mid-shin, and brown slip-on shoes. This is the outfit she is most commonly seen in, although she is known for wearing other short dresses. Despite the splash images between chapters and volumes that depict the cast in nicer fashion, Tohru wears simple and practical clothes when she is not in her uniform. Her work uniform as a janitor is a light blue shirt and pants. She wears whites gloves and styles her hair in pigtails, which she covers with a white bandana. Her swimsuit is a one-piece with daisies. The only times she dresses up is when other characters like Ayame Sohma or Mine Kuramae dress her. She wears a large ballgown as a costume when she plays the "not-so-evil stepsister" in the school play, Sorta Cinderella, in the manga. Personality Tohru is an extremely empathetic, cheerful, and over-optimistic girl. She loves her friends and family dearly and treats everyone she meets with kindness. However, this often causes her to put other's needs before her own. She has a deep devotion to her late mother and can oftentimes be seen talking to a picture she carries around of her. Most of the advice Tohru gives to other characters in the series comes from conversations she had with Kyoko or as a result of her slowly healing from the pain of her mother's death. Her naive and spaced-out demeanor often gets her ordered around by more bombastic characters, such as Ayame Sohma and Hiro Sohma, causing her friends to call her a "pushover". Her forgiving and kind nature is seen as a sign of weakness by several characters. Despite this, she stands up for her friends and can be quite stubborn about doing the right thing. She also dislikes taking advantage of people, as she always tries to pay people back for any help they give her. As the series goes on, she grows more serious and emotional, oftentimes to the point of crying, and becomes embittered towards the circumstances of the Sohma curse. She continues to act optimistic and cheerful outwardly, but characters who know her well recognize she is struggling to remain hopeful. Upon breaking the curse, she returns to her normal state. History Early Life Tohru was born to Kyoko and Katsuya Honda in the Year of the Dog. Death of Katsuya Her father died very soon after she was three years old. As Kyoko was raising Tohru alone, they were extremely close and spent much time together. Tohru loved when her mother told her stories, especially ones about the Chinese Zodiac. Tohru always became upset when she heard of how the Cat was ignored, even wishing that she could be born in the Year of the Cat instead of the Dog, even though the Year of the Cat did not exist.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 1: I'm Going Aside from her life at home with her mother, Tohru was often a victim of bullying at school. The children would play a game called Fruits Basket, and Tohru would always be assigned the rice ball, which is not a fruit. The children did this to exclude her from the game, though Tohru just stayed positive, hoping that someone would call out rice ball so she could play as well.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 5: I've Been Fooling Myself Meeting Yuki Sohma Meeting Arisa and Saki During this time, she befriended Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima, the pair also social outcasts in their own way. The trio found strength in each other.''Fruits Basket Manga'': Vol 7, Chapter 40''Fruits Basket Manga'': Vol 9, Chapter 51 Death of Kyoko On the day that Kyoko was hit and killed in a car accident, Tohru overslept and did not see her mother leave for work. She would always say "Bye, be safe!" to her mother every morning before she left. For this reason, Tohru partially blames herself for her mother's death, since she did not say "Bye, be safe!" to her that morning. Story Overview Fruits Basket First Year Arc After her mother's death, Tohru moved in with her grandfather. Shortly after, however, her grandfather told her that he was getting his house remodeled and asked her if she had a place to stay. Not wanting him to worry about her, Tohru lied and said that she would stay with one of her friends. Tohru did not have the heart to ask Uotani or Hanajima if she could stay with one of them, so she got a tent and lived in that for a short while. What she did not know that she was living on the property of the Sohma family. She discovered this one day when she was walking to school. Tohru noticed Shigure Sohma's figurines of the Chinese Zodiac. They talked about the Zodiac before her classmate, Yuki Sohma, interrupts. Yuki and Tohru walked together to school, with Tohru learning that Yuki has a hatred for the Cat in the Zodiac. Later that night, Yuki and Shigure find her tent and question why she is there. Tohru explained her situation and she offered to pay rent to them, begging them to allow her to stay in her tent there. A landslide destroyed her tent, however, and Shigure invited her to stay the night at the house. This eventually led to him offering room and board to Tohru in exchange for her doing household chores, which she accepts. That same morning, an orange-haired boy named Kyo Sohma appeared and started to pick a fight against Yuki. Tohru tried to stop him and she accidentally landed on him, which caused him to turn into a cat. She also bumped into Yuki and Shigure, causing them to turn into a rat and a dog. This is how Tohru learned of the Sohma family curse, where thirteen members of the house are possessed by the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac and are transformed into their animal if hugged by someone of the opposite sex. Despite being an outsider, Tohru is still given permission by Akito Sohma to stay with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo. Tohru quickly becomes close friends with Yuki, and her acceptance of him despite the curse inspires Yuki to better himself. And despite her initial strained relationship with Kyo, Tohru becomes good friends with him as well, and confesses that she has always liked the Cat in the Zodiac legend the most.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 2: They're All Animals! Time passed with her meeting another member of the family: the Boar, Kagura SohmaFruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 3: Episode 3Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 4: What Year Is She?, but eventually, Tohru received word from her grandfather that the renovations on his home are done. Tohru had grown so attached to the Sohma family that she found it extremely difficult to leave them. In spite of this, Tohru believed she was intruding on the Sohmas and decided to return to her grandfather's house, where she was treated poorly by her grandfather's family and became quite miserable. When Yuki and Kyo arrived to take her back to Shigure's house with her grandfather's blessing, she was thrilled. During the school's cultural festival, Tohru met two more members of the Sohma family, Momiji and Hatori: the Rabbit and the Dragon, respectively. Hatori asked Tohru to visit the main house, though Tohru was worried that Hatori was going to erase her memories.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 6: Perhaps We Should Invite Ourselves Over During her meeting with Hatori, Tohru learned about Hatori's past with Kana, his assistant turned lover, and how he had to erase her memories. He warned Tohru about the Sohmas saying that they were dangerous, but Tohru remained steadfast in her affection for the family. The encounter that was meant to frighten her away but instead gave her the first hints that the Sohma family was carrying a heavyweight. After seeing Akito for the first time, she realizes that Akito is a presence that frightens the Sohmas. She questions Shigure about the curse, but he doesn't tell her anything.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 7: Spring Comes Tohru again met another member of the Zodiac soon after; the Cow, Hatsuharu Sohma, during a school track day. She learned of Yuki's abuse at the hands of Akito and was embarrassed when Hatsuharu insinuated that Yuki was much happier because of her.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 9: Yuki Was My First Love Tohru continued to develop a strong bond with the Sohmas during holidays like Valentine's Day, where she made chocolates for all of her friends, and White Day, where Momiji treated her, Yuki, and Kyo to a day at the hot springs.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 10: It's Valentine's, After AllFruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 11: This is a Wonderful Inn Second Year Arc On the first day of the next school year, Hatsuharu and Momiji began to attend the same school as Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo. Akito Sohma introduced herself (at this point still identifying as male) that same day and Tohru felt intimidated by her, but still managed to defend Yuki even though she did not understand why he was so afraid.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 12: You Look Like You're Having Fun Tohru continued to come into contact with other members of the Zodiac, meeting the Snake, Ayame, who is also Yuki's older brother.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 13: How Have You Been, My Brother? She also met Momiji's mother, who had no memories of her son as she broke down upon finding out he was cursed and had to have her memories wiped. This experience and the subsequent embrace further endears Tohru to Momiji. She continued to have close and personal moments with the Sohmas, taking Kyo and Yuki along with her, Arisa, and Saki to visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. Tohru appears to be surprised by how Kyo looks to uninterested, yet tries to drag him into their conversations. Later during the evening, Tohru falls asleep in the living room, to which Kyo whispers that he "is sorry".Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 14: That's a Secret After taking a vacation with the Sohmas, Tohru met Kisa Sohma, the Tiger, in which they developed a strong affection for each other.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 18: What's Important Is... Tohru also met the Monkey, Ritsu Sohma.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 19: I'm So Sorry! More lighthearted events occur, with Tohru joining Yuki at Ayame's "costume" store,Episode ?? Tohru catching a cold,Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 23: You Look Well... and the Prince Yuki Fanclub prying into her life.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 21: I Never Back Down from a Wave Fight However, Tohru grew more and more aware of something sinister beneath the surface. During this same time period, Tohru met Hiro Sohma, the Ram of the Zodiac.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 20: Episode 20 Tohru becomes particularly close to Kyo after his adoptive father Kazuma Sohma forces him to reveal the monstrous "true form" of his curse. Kyo violently tries to push her away, but Tohru, although initially scared, stays with him because she wants to understand him better and live alongside him. Kyo, who had never received such an acceptance from anyone before, hugs her and calls her by name for the first time. He vows to treasure Tohru from then on and be by her side, and Tohru carries him home in his cat form.Fruits Basket (2019 Anime): Episode 24: Let's Go Home The Sohmas and Tohru headed for a private beach to enjoy their Summer Vacation. The dynamic between Tohru and Kyo had changed since they had shared such a personal moment together, with Tohru becoming flustered by him, the first inklings of her romantic feelings for him. Surprisingly, Akito also attended the beach trip as well and kept a close eye on Tohru. Akito spoke with Tohru before leaving told her to stop interfering with the Zodiac. Akito mentioned that Kyo would be locked up after he graduated high school as that was the fate of all those cursed by the Cat before him. That, along with all her previous experiences with the members of the Zodiac, emboldened Tohru, making her want to break the curse. Tohru went to see Kazuma and asked if he knew how to break the curse. Kazuma told her that he did not know how to break it, but that another member of the Zodiac, Rin Sohma was also trying to do the same. Tohru also met Kureno, who was the former Rooster of the Zodiac, who had his curse broken somehow. This gave her hope that the curse could be broken, even if she did not know how to. She confessed to Shigure that, while she wanted to break the curse for all the members of the Zodiac, she wanted Kyo to be free of it most of all. Third Year Arc Tohru had begun to feel guilty about falling in love with Kyo since she believed that she was replacing her love for her mother. Shigure and Rin both chided her for it, but she pushed the feelings away. When Tohru finally admitted her love to Kyo, he rejected her. Tohru also learned that Kyo could have saved her mother since he was there on the day of the car accident, but grabbing Kyoko would have caused him to transform and reveal his curse. Because of this, Kyo blamed himself for her death. Still, Tohru proclaimed she loved him in spite of it. However, Kyo still rejected Tohru and he ran away, with Tohru following him in a daze. She was stopped by Akito though, who was jealous that Tohru had gained the affection of all the members of the Zodiac. Despite Akito attacking her, Tohru extended her friendship, as she was understanding of Akito's fear of being alone. However the cliff she was on collapsed and she fell, rendering her unconscious. In her daze, she tried to comfort Kyo who, along with Yuki, found her. He kissed her, although it is later revealed she did not remember him doing that. Tohru survives the fall and is hospitalized. As she recovers, Akito accepts Tohru's friendship, and comes to accept both the person she is, instead of the god she has believed her father wished her to be, and the woman she was born as, instead of the man she was raised to be. Meanwhile, Yuki convinces Kyo to reconcile with Tohru when she is discharged from the hospital. But Tohru takes off in a dash once she sees Kyo because she feels as if she has been rejected, but Kyo chases after her. After catching up with her, Kyo apologized for his mistakes and confesses his feelings for her. Tohru asked Kyo if she could hug him, but Kyo was uneasy because he was unsure if he would transform. Still, he does so anyway, wanting to hug Tohru even for a short amount of time. That was how Tohru and Kyo learned of the curse being broken, as he stayed the same despite her embracing him. The Cat's curse was lifted, not just because of Akito, but also due to Tohru's true love for him. Akito decided to let go of the control over the members of the Zodiac, and all of the other members of the Sohma family are therefore able to lead regular lives now that the curse is broken. After becoming a couple, Tohru and Kyo go on their first date, accompanied by Saki and Arisa. After the date, Kyo asks Tohru to accompany him to a certain place: Kyoko's grave. When they arrive, they talk about the past, and Tohru once again is steadfast in her belief that Kyoko did not hold any ill feelings towards Kyo (which is later confirmed to be true). Upon hearing this and accepting his past with Kyoko, Kyo proposes the idea of moving away together, since he wants to learn all kind of things now that he is free from the curse. He wanted Tohru along with his journey, and Tohru emotionally accepts. She and Kyo are shown packing to move to another city to continue his martial arts training, so that eventually he can inherit Kazuma's dojo. Epilogue As Tohru, along with Yuki, Kyo and the others have graduated, they are moving out of Shigure’s house. While Tohru and Kyo clean their rooms, they talk about their future together; but they also reminisce about the past and the memories they have created in Shigure's house over the past years. Tohru is overwhelmed by emotions and begins crying, and Kyo comforts her and tells her with endings, come beginnings, too. During her last day in Shigure's house before moving out with Kyo, Yuki visits the house for the last time as well. He finds Tohru doing to laundry, and upon seeing him, Tohru happily exclaims "Welcome home". Yuki then begins expressing how grateful he is towards Tohru, gives his thanks to her for what she has done for the Sohma family, but most of all, how she had helped him grow into the man he is today, and how she had been like a mother-figure for him. This briefly surprises Tohru, but she cries and smiles brightly by Yuki's words. The story ends with Tohru and Yuki exchanging a handshake. Tohru and Kyo enter a committed relationship with one another, and Tohru is last seen walking hand in hand with Kyo in their old age, as their children and grandchildren talk about their love fondly. Tohru narrates that happy things and sad things will be accepted as the two grow old together.''Fruits Basket Manga'': Vol 23, Chapter 136 The Three Musketeers Arc Tohru and Kyo have just begun dating and are getting ready to graduate high school. Shigure asks her if she's happy to spend every second with the man she loves, and she timidly but happily responds that she does. She is later seen on a date with Kyo as her best friends Saki and Arisa accompany them.Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc: Chapter 3 Fruits Basket Another At some point, Tohru married Kyo, having three children between them. Since Kyo is training to take over Kazuma's dojo, the family settled down in the countryside for the time being. However, it is mentioned that they will eventually return to the city one day.Fruits Basket Another: Vol 2, Chapter 5 Tohru is seen in a memory flashback as silhouettes with Kyo, her youngest son, Machi, and Yuki, while her oldest son, Hajime Sohma, played with Yuki and Machi's son, Mutsuki Sohma, when they were children. When Hajime graduated from middle school, Tohru and Kyo told Hajime about the Zodiacs Curse and Kyo's past with the Cat's spirit. After hearing about his parents past, Hajime decided to enroll at the same high school they attended, because he wanted to understand which environment they spent their time in to come where they are now.Fruits Basket Another: Vol 1, Bonus Manga This means that Hajime commutes from home to attend school. Hajime also remarks on how his friend, Sawa Mitoma, reminds him of his mother in terms of speech.Fruits Basket Another: Vol 1, Chapter 3 Creation and conception According to Natsuki Takaya, Tohru was the first character she created for the series, with Yuki and Kyo Sohma soon after. When asked how she came up with Tohru's personality and background, she said: It is said that Tohru's father Katsuya named her Tohru because "it brought out her hidden flavor, like adding salt to sweet things." Takaya also gave Tohru a name normally used only for men because she likes to give masculine names to female characters "to balance them out." In addition, Takaya chose to have other characters address her as "Tohru-kun", using an honorific typically used for boys, because she thought it was "a more dignified form of address." Laura Bailey, Tohru's Funimation dub, has said that Tohru's character has helped her be more positive: "I was so inspired by her character by her, joy, and outlook on life that, you know, you wanna emulate that." Trivia *Although she is born in the year of the Dog, Tohru wants to be born of the year of the Cat since she feels sorry for the Cat for being tricked in the Zodiac Legend. *Kyoko's, Tohru's mother, "color" was red, which is inspired by her former nickname "Red Butterfly". Katsuya's, Tohru's father, "color" was white, since he was described as being a straightforward man. A mix between the two colors results in pink, which is Tohru's trademark as well as favorite color. *The tent that Tohru lives in is in the shape of a half-cylinder in the manga; but in the anime, it is much smaller and in the shape of a triangular prism. *While many sites list Tohru as an Aries, she is actually a Taurus. The mix up exists due to a fanfiction about Tohru's birthday (Entitled "Happy Birthday, Miss Tohru!"), the story was published on April 5th, 2006. On most search engines April 5th, 2006 shows up when a search is done for Tohru's birthday. All character profiles on websites predating this story list her as a Taurus. Her real birthday is on May 6th. *Despite not being able to transform, Tohru is represented by a rice ball with a "plum on the back". Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Fruits Basket Characters Category:Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc Characters Category:Sohma Family Category:Honda Family Category:Female